In some ways “nocturnal” photography is no different from most genres, and in other ways, there’s a world of difference. This article will explore the similarities and differences, and give tips to overcome some of the specific issues that are rarely encountered in other fields.
There are two main challenges you’ll face shooting outdoors under a night sky, that are less common in daylight photography: overwhelming darkness can make focus difficult, and exposure is a trickier matter because most night scenes have an extremely wide range of contrast, far exceeding the tonal range of film or digital.
Exposure times stretch into many seconds, perhaps even minutes. This is where the tripod comes in; if you use an SLR camera, this is also a great time to familiarize yourself with the mirror-lockup feature. Use either a remote shutter release or the timer mode, to avoid shaking or vibrating the camera as you press the shutter release. Again, these techniques will be familiar to the landscape photographer, but are uncommon in many genres, but strictly required in night photography.
